Learning Programs

Practical Insights and Tools Applied to “Real Life” Situations, Anchoring Principles and Practice in Actual Experience Combined with a “Hands on” Opportunity to Live out the Lessons – That Is the Essence of Our Approach

A History of Leadership: In the Design and Delivery of Innovative Learning Programs in Complex Organizational Dynamics, Building Relationships, and Resolving Conflicts

Course design, and delivery within the Executive MBA customized programs of SFU Beedie School of Business (2006-2016) including the pioneering EMBA in Aboriginal Business and Leadership “ Leadership Strategies for Managing Complexity Within and Beyond the Organization”

Leader in the design, development, and delivery of the “Growing the Story” exercise within the SFU Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue, which challenges participants within a multidisciplinary intensive seminar-based undergraduate experience to understand the players and the (2000-2005)

Leader in the design, development, and delivery of a workshop called “The Power of the Question” for Action Canada (a leadership program inspired and funded through a partnership between a private benefactor, Samuel Belzberg, and the Government of Canada) which challenges prominent emerging Canadian leaders – the Action Canada Fellows – to understand the importance of questions in the art of leadership.

Leader, with Barry Stuart, in the design and development of Managing and Resolving Multi-Party Cases, a joint initiative of the SFU Dialogue Forum and the National Judicial Institute, and its delivery to 25 superior and appeal court judges from across Canada in February, 2005.

Programs in Negotiation Based Conflict Resolution, Leadership, and Executive and Management Development – the Banff Centre for Management (1985-95); BC Forests Continuing Studies Network (1993-96); Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC (1996-99); Cascade Centre, University of Washington (1999); designing and delivering similar programs on a customized basis to business, government agencies and departments, First Nations, and non-government organizations.

Course Instructor, School of Business, Simon Fraser University in Graduate Business Programs – “Business, Government, and Society.”

Faculty member, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. Professional Development Program and Course Instructor in the LL.M. Graduate Program in Dispute Resolution.

Skilled in utilizing training and orientation as a way to create “safe places” – an entry point for diverse interests to explore their interest in engaging with each other “in a different way to have a different kind of conversation.”

The GEMM Intensives have been created to support organizations struggling to come to grips with the challenges faced by companies, communities, and governments struggling to find effective and resilient ways to engage with each other, and each internally to increase their effectiveness at doing so.

These programs will be customized for the context, the size and complexity of the organization. They will be in the nature of problem solving workshops, focused on finding solutions that can be tested in practice, adapted as needed, and implemented.

They will be constituted with groups who can bring to bear different perspectives to inform the discussions in different ways.

They will be developed with and by participants to meet their needs and expectations; different sizes, different mediums: sessions, seminars, speaking to meet different needs and different times and resources, from hours to a day, or several days or weeks. They will build of the success of the well- recognized GEMM Dialogue Series (www.gemm.ca) which has brought together diverse players from across the sector into significant conversations on critical topics in a unique format.

The GEMM Intensives will take the GEMM spirit, learnings, and tools into a focused action learning and doing settings that can be adapted to meet the needs of companies, communities, governments, both individually and in cross sectoral groups.

They will draw from and build upon the creative design innovations of GEMM, using simulations through such devices as video/script provides the connective tissue weaving together the program/projects, "Hands on" role plays, based on realistic and relevant situations, but different from the actual substantive challenges facing the parties

They will be led by Glenn Sigurdson and Jessica Bratty who bring a proven track record in both the public and private sector working within and between organizations, as intermediaries in resolving conflict, facilitators of partnerships, developing and leading multi sectoral dialogues in the resource sector (including GEMM which they founded and lead), and delivering both customized learnings programs and MBA course requirements.

They will bring their extensive and diverse experience and unique resources to work with the participants to create with and for them the spaces in different contexts- both internally within organizations, or between and among them. They bring to bear the particularly unique perspectives of “on the ground” and high level experience - interactions around a site, and in conference halls.